Featured Stories

There is always an inherent risk when doing anything in space. That said, a handful of space sustainability-minded companies are working hard to minimize those risks and prevent self-inflicted catastrophes. In this episode, we’ll learn about the true scope of the threat posed by space debris, congestion and the lack of situational awareness and about...

The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is kicking off a commercial pathfinder project to support space situational awareness (SSA) services, placing orders for commercial data with COMSPOC, LeoLabs, and Slingshot Aerospace.  OSC announced Jan. 19 that the three companies will conduct a pathfinder of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS).  This is part of...

Impulse Space is working to simplify access to Geostationary Orbit (GEO), unveiling a new high-performance kick stage on Wednesday called Helios, designed to take 5 tons from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to GEO in less than a day.  Impulse Space is led by CEO and founder Tom Mueller, who was a founding member of SpaceX and...

John Deere selected SpaceX’s Starlink for its agricultural connectivity solution, the company announced Tuesday, after a long RFP process with the satellite industry.  The satcom solution will connect both new and existing machines through satellite internet service and terminals. The company said Jan. 16 that John Deere dealers will install a ruggedized Starlink terminal on...

2024 should be a remarkable year of achievements in the space industry. I’m excited by several activities converging in the aerospace industry and how they will affect satellite manufacturing. A few pivotal trends will play important roles: technology advancements in material and production capabilities, regulatory shifts, the integration of artificial intelligence, and the continued importance...

2023 was quite a year in the satellite industry. Huge deals like Viasat/Inmarsat, Eutelsat/OneWeb were completed. Intelsat and SES held merger talks without success, and Telesat announced funding and its plans for its Lightspeed network. And this was just among the legacy operators. With the likes of Amazon and SpaceX continuing to make a huge...

Iridium is taking a new approach to the direct-to-device (D2D) market after its deal with Qualcomm ended, announcing “Project Stardust” on Wednesday — an upcoming 3GPP compliant D2D service for smartphones and IoT devices that operates on Iridium’s existing network.  The project is in its early stages; Iridium expects testing to begin in 2025, with...

Thanks to Starlink and OneWeb, broadband from the sky dominates the view of the satellite data business for both the industry and the public. It’s all about hundreds of Mbps crossing from terminals to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to gateways and back again. That makes it easy to forget the power of small bursts of...

Space has a compelling story to tell, but it can be a challenge to craft the message. As Space is such a technical sector, it can be hard for leadership to communicate the value of what they do to investors, media, and the public.  It’s Sarah Nickell’s job to craft that message. As a PR...

Vulcan Centaur, the next-generation heavy-lift rocket from United Launch Alliance, made its debut early Monday morning. It was a successful first launch for the long-awaited rocket — but the customer spacecraft from Astrobotic experienced a propulsion failure after deployment.   The Vulcan mission took off on Jan. 8 at 2:18 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41...